The Kiss

Exquisite. Amazing work, Amanda.

Beautiful, gorgeous, and sweet enough to spread on toast. And I think the crop's perfect.

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The only distraction for me is the diagonal white pattern in the background (wall trim??) and the area out-of-focus in the foreground is a little too much; otherwise, the expressions and lighting are perfect, imo.

Kim's right. The wall trim could be cloned for greater effect, however, allowing it to remain gives the viewer a sense that this was captured in a home, rather than a studio, and thereby adds a personal element. Visually though, it is a distraction. Kim's also right about the blurry spots: darkening them might be worth a try, to see how it affects the overall impact of the photo. Even so, I do appreciate the bright atmosphere of the photo as presented. It's a real treasure for the family album.

thanks for the CC, in full agreeance. Yes Kim it is the skirting board - I had the baby on a beanbag on the floor. I could have gotten a slightly lower vantage to block it with the beanbag but when you get a toddler cooperate like this you grab iykwim hehehe!Oh, and I'm not fantastic with the clone tool ;-) It will look better in than if I try to clone it out - I wont be able to make it seamless enough.
Thanks for taking the time for the cc, much apreciated.

You might be able to do what Doug said and darken all around the center of the image to keep the attention on those cute little kids (no cloning involved!). Nothing extreme, just subtle enough to draw your eyes to the middle and keep them there.

I have to admit that I did not notice the wall trim until it was mentioned. I was caught by the emotion of the image, then the reds, and the highlights in the girl's hair. I think, for me, those positives outweigh the negatives in that case. Perhaps no image is perfect, and after repeated viewings any image will suffer it's slights. So, for me, the sum is still a big positive for the emotion, the reds and the highlights in the girl's hair.

Very touching & very nicely lit. It appears you caught a moment instead of posing the shot. I agree with the wall trim. It helps in giving the feeling of being at home, but it possibly stands out a bit too much. Cloning, blurring, or another way of toning it down, I think, would help

Precious... Like others, I noticed the wall trim, but in all honesty it was secondary to enjoying the emotive moment. Very well done!!
Ahhh, enjoy them now, like kittens into cats, they will grow into teenagers! LOL... Mike

Softness in the atmosphere and colors are contrasted with that magical kiss, you get the tenderness in this simple and pure work. Best regards!!

Amanda:

Your photograph is outstanding! Aside from the sweet innocence and love the photo captures, the colors are stunning, especially on the young lady's cheeks. I love her hair as well. Although the background contains a bit of a distraction, IMHO, it does not afffect the overall impact of the photograph.

My sincere compliments,

michael

This is just perfect , amazing and lovely

I can look at this photos for hours and hours

 

When I first looked at this photograph, I was struck by the sweetness of the little girl and the baby, but my eyes kept seeing that background -- the wall trim.... Then I wondered about the eye lashes --- could they be real?. (My wife assures me that they are indeed real and that the little girl's hair will probably turn a bit browner by age 10 or so.) They are so long and beautiful. Any way, I am not sure I like the out of focus foreground and I do not like the mop boards or wall trim. I'm left with, since you don't clone, one cure, if indeed this photograph needs fixing, and that is cropping.

Cut the bottom of the photo off just above the photographer's name, say half way to the baby's arm, and then darken what's left of the out of focus portion. Crop away each side leaving a little space beyond her shoulders. It makes another picture, but you do away with the wall trim and keep the same proportions.

Or you could just leave it alone and not worry about what us viewers think. It still is a lovely shot.

Willie the Cropper

Nice shot.
Agree that a bit of a crop off the bottom would tighten it up.

great details and it's a very tender kiss... i love it :)

I know it's been mentioned plenty of times, but I don't know that the trim is all that bothersome to me. I did notice the trim, but I don't find it a huge focal point. I agree with the comment that it looks more like a captured moment as opposed to a staged one. I congratulate you on that!! Children are not always easy to work with. :) I also like the softness of the lighting, well done.

really marvellious and tenderness moment. The best photo of the year.

Best Regards

I think its a super shot, it looks like it was spontanious, the focus on the badies face and the child kissing here are perfect. The lack of eye contact makes the moment more intermate, the Out of focus fading in softly is just right. The light from the top left really adds the finishing touches to the tender moment. The background wall trim would be an imperfection in a studio but gives the picture a home and spontanous shot feeling. I love it the way it is and its a pleasure to see this as picture of the week.

Amanda
This is FLAWLESS! I agree the baseboard is a bit distracting, however, it does somehow make this shot feel as if it's in a home so I think it's distraction is slight.
I know all to well how hard it is to shoot a newborn and then to add a toddler into the mix can be even more difficult. This was a perfect moment and you captured it with flawless beauty. Congratulations on such a lovely image!
deb

What a sweet picture. I am so glad to see this chosen as POW and pleased that we get to see it in its (mostly) unaltered state. I think this picture is interesting because:

When initially viewed as a spectacular snapshot, one begins to appreciate the simplicity of a beautiful picture captured under the most unspectacular of circumstance. We wish for it to be better only because it is so close to perfection. This results in heightened expectation and perception of an imperfect masterpiece, which any number of available methods of alteration would have served the purpose of elevating this to new heights. There are plenty of (children's photo) examples on this site taking this route; it becomes a matter of personal taste and exercise of ones imagination.

It's often said that gear doesn't matter. In this instance, I would say gear probably contributed significantly to its many appreciable attributes, most notably sharpness, DoF and white balance. Speaking from an amateur's perspective using consumer gear, how many times have we struggled (due to camera limitations) to get the white balance right only to give up and go for b/w? Under otherwise identical conditions, I think this picture would have been quite ordinary had it been shot with a point-n'-shoot.

Congratulations to Amanda for this beautiful picture, and to the Elves for choosing this photo recognizing that this type of work represents an ever popular trend as more moms take up photography and many have aspirations of becoming pro.

I don't know what can I write more on this beautiful picture. I love taking pics of my 3 girls, especially my little one of 3 months and you are a great inspiration on how to capture the most beautiful moments in their lives. Thank you for those pictures, keep up the great work.

Sweet composition ... very nice sharpens ... shot time beautiful ... naturaly and good lights ... Congrats.

Amanda,

Congratulations on your shot being chosen as POW. Fully justified, I feel.

All the talk about the baseboards is well taken, though deb cloud is correct, I think, about the in-home feel. I'm OK with OOF foregrounds, though I'm clearly in the minority. And you're certainly right about the inherent challenges of getting such shots of little children in the first place. In any case, Brava!

Gosh I've been away for a couple of days down the beach (to escape the 112F heat) and come home to all these lovely comments! Thanks so much to you all for your input, I'm truly flattered.
Just thought I'd offer some more info on the pic :-) This is a customer's children and the pic was loosely set up. We put bubs where we wanted and played a 'kissing game' with toddler sister. We got big sis in position by asking her to put her knees down here and kiss baby here on baby's head. It worked as I got about 3 shots at it and this was by far the best. Sorry if it takes some of the magic out of it...big sis loves kissing her little one but it was 'loosely set up' by me by positioning the bean bag baby was on to get the best available light and then gently coaching big sis. As I am a pro I am also fortunate enough to be using pro equip which makes getting noise free, sharp images possible alot easier than using consumer gear. Having said that, I'm a stickler for 'getting it in camera' as I don't like spending much time in post processing. The image SOOC is not much different to this, I've only added a slight curves adjustment and sharpening and a bit of a soft darkening on the edges. Oh, and I have done nothing to the little girls lashes and hair, God gave her those gorgeous assets, I simply captured them :-)